United States-Indonesia Commercial Dialogue

The U.S.-Indonesia Commercial Dialogue (CD) is a commercial diplomacy initiative developed by the International Trade Administration (ITA) at the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Indonesian Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs (MENKO) as a private sector-driven forum for sharing best practices, capacity building and exchanging information with the goal of expanding trade and investment.

Formally launched in 2011, the CD focuses on six key areas – or pillars – for expanding our commercial relationship:

The CD is co-chaired by ITA’s Assistant Secretary for Market Access and Compliance and MENKO’s Deputy Minister for International Economic and Financial Cooperation, and offers a mechanism for companies, trade associations, working groups, or government officials from either country to propose activities under one or more of the six pillars that will promote growth in commerce between the United States and Indonesia. Activities include, but are not limited to, public-private roundtables, best practice seminars, and videoconferences between government and private sector experts in a variety of areas to share information and explore solutions to common challenges.

Private sector participation and input to the Commercial Dialogue is managed by a Steering Committee, comprised of designated private sector representatives from the American Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia (AmCham), the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council (USABC), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN), and the Indonesian Employers’ Association (APINDO).

Read more about the organizational structure to better understand the roles and responsibilities of each participating organization in the Commercial Dialogue.

Commercial Dialogue Activities

Both U.S. and Indonesian organizations (private sector or government) have the opportunity to submit ideas for projects and activities that can be jointly undertaken under the framework of the Commercial Dialogue through written proposals that are submitted on a rolling basis. If the proposal comes from a private sector organization, it is first reviewed and vetted by the private sector CD Steering Committee, and then submitted to government representatives for review and clearance. Once approved, the project manager from the proposing organization will implement the project with support as needed from the CD Steering Committee members and government representatives.

Project managers will report outcomes and progress of each project to the CD Co-Chairs during an annual Commercial Dialogue plenary meeting in, or around, September or October each year. Project ideas to date have covered a wide range of trade and investment issues from innovation and intellectual property rights protection, to capacity building for energy service companies, to cooperation in welding certification standards.

For additional information on how to submit a project idea for the Commercial Dialogue, or for other general questions on the CD, contact ITA managers of the CD at US-IndoCD@trade.gov.